Odds are Illini deserved bid

Book it: NCAA selection committee on money, says Vegas

March 13, 2007|By Michael Hirsley, Tribune staff reporter.

Vegas likes the Illini, and doesn't mind hypothesizing or playing numbers games.

On Sunday, despite the protestations of Hubert Davis and other ESPN "experts," Illinois (23-11) got a favorable bounce into the NCAA tournament as teams with comparable or superior records--Air Force (23-8), Drexel (23-8), Kansas State (22-11), Syracuse (22-10) and West Virginia (22-9)--were left home.

So we asked Las Vegas Sports Consultants, who set odds for sports books in town, to do just that for Illinois against each of those five teams that didn't make the cut.

The Illini fared well in the oddsmakers' eyes: In neutral-site games, coach Bruce Weber's squad would be favored by five points over Drexel, 4 1/2 over Air Force and four over West Virginia. Illinois-Kansas State was a pick 'em bet, and Syracuse was a one-point favorite.

Incidentally, it took Sports Consultants only about 10 minutes to calculate those odds. That's what they do.

Here's how efficient they are: Sunday, they posted their point spreads for all matchups within 75 minutes of the selection committee listing the games.

In the case of Illinois' hypothetical odds against five teams who won't be at the Big Dance, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.